A tech veteran writer supplies must-read tips for extending your onstage set to pull in and surround attendees at your Christmas production. Learn new ways to think about projectors as light agents—and gain fresh thinking on set design

You may be tempted to select a lighting console because it's the one used by your favorite band, or the mega-church down the street. Don't fall into the trap. The best lighting console is the one that helps you and your crew quickly and easily get the most out of your lighting system.

As LED technology has progressed over the past decade, manufacturers have come up with different solutions for dealing with chromatic shadows. Each of these solutions has its advantages and drawbacks, which means that there is no one alternative that’s best for every church.

Using immersive design does not mean that you turn your Sunday service into a rave. Remember, you are not creating the passion, but supporting it. The congregation will appreciate it, and it could help make your service a much more satisfying worship experience for all.

A basic principle of lighting design is to use the controllable properties of light --- intensity, direction, movement, and color --- to help convey emotion. Of those properties, color is the cheapest and easiest to change.

Understanding the basic approach to lighting design and choosing the right fixtures requires that you can identify your church’s needs and apply the right tools to meet them. This FREE white paper helps you to do just that.

As a church leader, would you rather have energized, fully-engaged and excited or tired, disengaged and aggravated staff? Sometimes it’s a smart call to let your highly qualified, fully capable tech staff leave at 5PM while someone else does the install.

Lighting control literally changed the world. “Designers no longer had to
compromise what they envisioned just because lighting board operators
could not physically adjust the individual dimmer levels fast enough…. ”
Here, an afficionado considers the next new wrinkle to impact churches.

The college-aged audience of more than 60,000 at Atlanta's Georgia Dome was treated to a massive audio, video and lighting extravaganza. With just 16 hours from the start of load-in until doors opened, the event was a clinic in production management.

New lighting systems are more versatile and offer a wider array of lighting designs. They also require maintenance and increased skill in programming. So the important question to ask your church is: “Do we have the personnel to operate and maintain this technology?”

You will be spending a lot of time with this tool. Whether you are programming the lighting to playback looks at the touch of a button, running complex, multi-cued presentations, or running the lighting manually with faders, the choice of console can help or hinder your plans.

No doubt, LEDs are all the rage. With lower prices, higher power and improving quality, it’s tempting to consider them viable for every application. Yet trouble-shooting, maintenance and debate over color temperature can complicate matters. Our panel of experts weigh in with advice.

Having the right tools, and knowing how to use them are two different things. While most church lighting guys haven’t invested the seven years of university study required by the lighting design profession, you can learn the basics and the build your own style and method.